Vajpayee symbol of NDA performance, says Advani
Ahmedabad, February 15
Attacking Congress president Sonia Gandhi for her remarks that the BJP had just one leader, Deputy Prime Minister L. K. Advani today said Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee was being projected as the prime ministerial candidate because he was the “symbol” of NDA’s achievements on all fronts.

Congress wins Khasi
council in Meghalaya
Shillong, February 15With the Lok Sabha elections around the corner, the Congress, the major partner of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance coalition, is set to rule the Khasi Hills Autonomous District
Council.

A
lady admires a flower during a flower show in New Delhi on
Sunday. — PTI

Some day I shall be PM,
says Laloo
New Delhi, February 15Declaring that he will “definitely” become the Prime Minister one day, RJD president Laloo Prasad Yadav today said that the secular Democratic Alliance has several potential contenders to the top post, including Ms Sonia Gandhi and Mr Ramvilas
Paswan.

Boy sacrificed
Aurangabad (Bihar),
February 15A five-year-old boy was ‘sacrificed’ in Ghoran Bigha village of Aurangabad district to help a brick kiln owner come out of loss in his business, the police said today.
On the advice of a sorcerer, brick kiln owner Anil Singh kidnapped the boy, identified as
Vikash, from that village and allegedly sacrificed him on February 11, after keeping him in captivity for six days.

Fellow comedians honour Jagdeep
Mumbai, February 15Veteran comedian Jagdeep, who regaled cinegoers for over four decades, was honoured with a lifetime achievement award at a function to acknowledge contribution of comedy masters in films, television and stage.

The
grieving family membersof Ashwani K. Puri, the chairman and managing director of
Mohan Exports and promoter of the Lord Krishna Bank who was
killed by miscreants in Angola, at a
cremation ground in New Delhi on Sunday. — PTI

Venus to pass across Sun in June
New Delhi, February 15Sky gazers will witness a rare celestial treat in June when planet Venus will pass across the face of the Sun — appearing as a tiny dot from the Earth.

SC asks for details on B'desh immigrantsNew Delhi, February 15The Supreme Court has allowed the Centre and the states of West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura four weeks to submit complete details about the identification of nearly 1.5 crore Bangladeshis living in the country illegally and the steps taken for their deportation.

Ahmedabad, February 15
Attacking Congress president Sonia Gandhi for her remarks that the BJP had just one leader, Deputy Prime Minister L. K. Advani today said Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee was being projected as the prime ministerial candidate because he was the “symbol” of NDA’s achievements on all fronts.

Mr Vajpayee’s “personal attributes and qualities are the principal factors which held this whole government together despite cynicism and skepticism of our detractors. For the past six years, he has been the symbol of our performance,” he told reporters accompanying him on a day’s visit to Ahmedabad, a portion of which forms part of his adjacent Lok Sabha constituency, Gandhinagar.

Taking exception to Ms Gandhi’s comments that the BJP had no leader other than Mr Vajpayee, he said: “The world over the experience is that ideas are not easy to communicate to the masses. If you have a person who personifies these ideas, it is more easy to communicate”.

In this regard, he said when liberalisation was taking place in Britain, policy makers thought that it would be easy to explain the concept by calling it “Thatcherism”.

Observing that earlier the BJP got its confidence from its ideology and organisational capacity, Mr Advani said: “This time all these factors are still there but the predominant factor is the performance of the government.”

He said like in the 1977 general election, the results this time would far exceed the expectations but with a difference — the spill over in the electorate that time was motivated by anger against Emergency but “this time it is a positive sense of admiration for the government.”

“Incumbency is generally a disadvantage but this time incumbency is our biggest asset,” he said.

Mr Advani, who has decided to seek re-election from Gandhinagar for the fourth time, said he could not recall any earlier occasion when he felt so confident about the party’s prospects this time.
— PTI

Ahmedabad, February 15
Known for his fondness for movies, Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani was reminded of the recent Sanjay Dutt-starrer comedy flick "Munnabhai MBBS" when he addressed medical students at a city’s medical college auditorium here today.

"I have never come to college earlier, but this auditorium certainly looks very familiar. I was told you must have seen (the film) Munnabhai...", he remarked as he began to address a large number of students at B.J. Medical College auditorium.

Recalling how the film producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra had urged him to watch the film, he said in fact it was after a long time that he saw a film with such "subtle humour".

"There were some excess in the film...but the auditorium (shown in the film) was exactly like the one here," he said.
— PTI

New Delhi, February 15
The BJP Parliamentary Board is meeting here tomorrow to fine-tune its
election strategy for the Lok Sabha elections.

The meeting, to be held at Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's residence, would also have preliminary discussions on the selection of candidates, review of the party's alliances and seat sharing, party sources here said today.

The party's alliance with the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu is likely to come up for discussion.

The
BJP's obvious strategy is to forge effective alliances with regional
partners to achieve its target of 300 seats for itself and a
two-thirds majority for the NDA.

Noida, February 15
Less than a fortnight of his rejoining the BJP, Mr Kalyan Singh today said the issue of Ram temple construction at Ayodhya has not been given up and it may figure in the soon-to-be-released “vision document” of the party.

“Jo yeh Ram mandir banne ka prashna
hai, yeh BJP ne choda nahi hai (as far as the Ram temple construction is concerned, the party has not given up its stand),” Singh told reporters here while on an election tour to his native
Aligarh.
— PTI

Shillong, February 15
With the Lok Sabha elections around the corner, the Congress, the
major partner of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance coalition, is set
to rule the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC), while the
electorate did not give a clear mandate in two others, the Jaintia and
Garo Hills Autonomous District Councils.

The Khasi, Jaintia and Garo hills autonomous district councils which do not fall under the purview of the Panchayati Raj system and function under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, went to the polls on February 12.

All the results of the three 30-member councils were declared last night, save one in the Sutnga constituency of the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council (JHADC) where repoll has been ordered for tomorrow because of the snatching of ballot papers and attempts to tamper with ballot boxes, official sources said today.

Of 12 ministers in the Lapang government, who contested the district council elections from the Khasi Hills council under a provision which allows MLAs to enter the fray for the district councils, eight won.

In KHADC, the people gave a mandate to the Congress which won 16 seats, its alliance partners in the assembly United Democratic Party (UDP) 9, KHNAM 2, and Meghalaya Democratic Party 2.

Though the UDP, KHNAM and the MDP are coalition partners in the assembly, there was no alliance for the district council elections.

In
JHADC where the people did not give a clear mandate to any party, the
Congress won 9 seats followed by UDP 8, Ind 6, MDP 3, KHNAM 1 and the
BJP, which is an opposition party in the Assembly, one.
— PTI

New Delhi, February 15
Declaring that he will “definitely” become the Prime Minister one day, RJD president Laloo Prasad Yadav today said that the secular Democratic Alliance has several potential contenders to the top post, including Ms Sonia Gandhi and Mr Ramvilas Paswan.

“I am not saying I will become the Prime Minister tomorrow. I can only say at the moment that I will definitely become the Prime Minister one day,” he said in an interview to DD News.

He, however, would not get into the controversy over who was the prime ministerial candidate of the alliance.

“We have plenty of leaders. Ms Sonia Gandhi is there. Mr Ramvilas Paswan is there. Any one can be but I don’t want to get into it now,” he said.

Maintaining that he was not “a machine to make Prime Ministers”, he denied that he and Mr Sharad Yadav had prevented Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav from becoming the Prime Minister in 1997 as claimed by CPM leader Harkishen Singh Surjeet.

“Mr Surjeet is making a fool of Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav. There was no proposal to make him the Prime Minister and saying that I prevented him was the biggest joke. I am not a machine to make Prime Minisers,” he said.
— UNI

Not to be outdone by former Congress Legislature Party leader Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, who tried wooing public by a long march, Mr Naidu, after paying floral tributes to the statue of Telugu Desam Party
(TDP) founder and former Chief Minister N T Rama Rao and hoisting the party flag as part of the ‘Janda Panduga’(flag festival), pedalled away waving victory sign to attract voters all along the 4 km route.
— UNI

Aurangabad (Bihar), February 15
A five-year-old boy was ‘sacrificed’ in Ghoran Bigha village of Aurangabad district to help a brick kiln owner come out of loss in his business, the police said today.

On the advice of a sorcerer, brick kiln owner Anil Singh kidnapped the boy, identified as Vikash, from that village and allegedly sacrificed him on February 11, after keeping him in captivity for six days.

They also tried to burn the body in the brick kiln owned by Anil Singh in Darmi village under Kutumba police station, they said.

The police caught the sorcerer, Ramashish Chauhan and another person Maheshwar Bhunia last night while they were trying to throw the boy’s half-burnt body to some remote location in the village.

The brick kiln owner is absconding, the police said.

An FIR has been lodged with Dev police station of Aurangabad district in this connection and search was on for the brick kiln owner, they said.
— PTI

Mumbai, February 15
Veteran comedian Jagdeep, who regaled cinegoers for over four decades, was honoured with a lifetime achievement award at a function to acknowledge contribution of comedy masters in films, television and stage.

Starting his career in movies as a child artiste in

“Afsana” at the age of nine, Jagdeep rose to become a top comedian of Bollywood, unleashing a whacky style of comedy. He has acted in 108 films, including “Sholay” and “Jigri Dost”.

Presenting the award here last night, thespian Sunil Dutt said he was happy that Jagdeep, whom he had interviewed as a journalist on the sets of “Do Bigha Zameen”, had become a popular comedian.

Jagdeep was given a standing ovation as he received the award, the first ever for comedy, instituted by the Indian Comedians’ Association.

Recalling his association with comedy, Sunil Dutt said his role in “Padosan” opposite comedy kings Kishore Kumar and Mehmood was still remembered by fans. “I wish the organisers had taken note of my contribution to comedy,” he said.

Rajesh Puri was given the milestone award for his brilliant acting in television serials while Tanaz Currim received the best comedian actress for “Meri Biwi Wonderful”. Dewang Bhojani bagged the best comedian actor award for his role in “Office Office”.

“Office Office” was adjudged the best comedy TV serial.

In the film category, Rajpal Yadav received the award for the best comedian actor for his role in “Hungama” while Delnaz Paul bagged the best comedian actress award for “Kal Ho Naa Ho”, her debut movie. The rib-tickling film “Munnabhai MBBS” was adjudged the best comedy film and Govinda got the award of the star in the best comedy role in “Ek Aur Ek Gyarah”.

The award for the best comedy “Jodi No. one” went to Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi for “Munnabhai MBBS”. The award for best comedian anchor was bagged by Javed Jaffrey and best actor voice was given to Sudesh Bhosle.

In the stage category, Marathi play “Sahi Re Sahi”, produced by Lata Narvekar, was adjudged as best comedy play.

A special award was given to Sue Kelly Christie, legendary South African comedian.

Meanwhile, Shehnai maestro Ustaad Bismillah Khan and noted film actor-director Manoj Kumar were conferred with the “Swadeshi Ratna” for their lifetime contribution to music and art.

The awards, presented by the Swadeshi Marketing Group on the occasion of the fifth anniversary celebrations of “Swadeshi Divas”, here yesterday, also carry a cash prize of Rs 2.5 lakh each.

The families of the seven Indians, who lost their lives during the attack on Parliament House on December 13, 2001, were also honoured with a cash award of Rs 1 lakh each at the event compered by noted television personality Shekhar Suman.
— PTI, UNI

New Delhi, February 15
Sky gazers will witness a rare celestial treat in June when planet Venus will pass across the face of the Sun — appearing as a tiny dot from the Earth.

"During the event called Venus Transit, on June 8th this year, Venus would transit the face of the Sun in about five hours, being visible as a small black dot over the Sun during that period," Nehru Planetarium Director Dr N. Rathnasree told PTI.

Dr Rathnasree said Venus transits were very rare. "No one alive so far has seen the transit of Venus. The last time this happened was in 1882 and in 1874, prior to that," she said.

Thus, it is almost a lifetime's opportunity as the next Venus transit would occur in 2012 and after that the event is slated only in the 22nd century, Dr Rathnasree said.

The transit of 1874 was observed by Ankitam Ventkata Narsingha Rao of Visakhapatnam. His observations were published in the Monthly Notices of Royal Astronomical Society in 1875, one of the first few Indian astronomical publications in European journals, Dr Rathnasree said. The 1882 transit was not visible from India.

The event, to be visible from all over India, is like a solar eclipse, but in this Venus does not cover the face of the Sun and the sunlight is not blocked from reaching the Earth, she said.

The Venus Transit would also be visible from other Asian countries, besides nations in Africa and Europe. Eastern parts of the USA would be able to see the end of the transit, she said. In India, the visible phase of the transit would begin at about 11 a.m. and last till 4.30 p.m.

The event has generated global interest and countries are exchanging information on the educational efforts related with the transit.
— PTI

New Delhi, February 15
The Supreme Court has allowed the Centre and the states of West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura four weeks to submit complete details about the identification of nearly 1.5 crore Bangladeshis living in the country illegally and the steps taken for their deportation.

A Bench of Mr S. Rajender Babu and Mr Justice G.P. Mathur also sought affidavits from the Union Government and these states about the measures being taken to prevent illegal immigration from Bangladesh, while hearing a six-year-old public interest litigation on the issue.

The Centre earlier had admitted that more than 1.5 crore Bangladeshis were living in India illegally and stated that it had initiated steps with the cooperation of West Bengal, Assam, Tripura and Meghalaya governments to prevent illegal immigration.

BRIEFLY

KIDNAPPED PROF ESCAPES
BEGUSARAI (Bihar): Kidnapped Professor Ram Chandra Prasad managed to escape from the clutches of his abductors on Sunday and reached home after remaining in captivity for nearly a week. Prof Prasad escaped in the wee hours of Sunday while the abductors were shifting him from the hiding place to some other location, the police and his family members said.
— PTI

2 TELUGU FILM STARS JOIN BJP
HYDERABAD: Telugu film stars Suman and Sharat Babu on Sunday joined the BJP in the presence of party president M. Venkaiah Naidu. Welcoming them into the party fold, Mr Naidu said they had expressed the desire to join the BJP as they were influenced by the policies and leadership of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
— PTI

ARTISTES STAGE DHARNA
JAIPUR: A large number of artistes and human rights activists staged a dharna here on Sunday in protest against the filing of a police case against two leading artistes in Udaipur on a complaint filed by Bajrang Dal leaders. The registration of criminal case against theatre personality Bhanu Bharti, Director of Udaipur Lok Kala Mandal, and painter Shail Choyal, is an attack on freedom of expression, said Prem Krishna Sharma of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties.
— PTI

CONG LAUNCHES ‘RAIL ROKO’
STIR
DEHRA DUN:The Uttaranchal unit of the Congress on Sunday launched ''rail roko andolan'' in protest against the three-year rigorous imprisonment to the Uttarakhand movement activist Umesh Charan Gosai. Congress spokesman Dhirendra Pratap said the party as well as the state government had decided to bear the entire cost of the legal battle on behalf of Mr Gosai.
— UNI